New City Park Pool will open in 2026 with 6 lap lanes, diving area
A new era of the City Park Pool is near, complete with six swimming lanes and a diving area.
The Iowa City City Council approved the $18.4 million plan for the 75-year-old pool's redesign on Tuesday night, paving the way for a new experience in 2026.
The concept was one of four proposals from Williams Architects, an out-of-state design company handling at least the first part of the multi-step, multi-year process. Each design varied in its cost and amenities.
Williams and the city held multiple listening community discussion sessions throughout the last several months. Designs "A" and "B" were the most popular, garnering more than 75% favorability.
The Iowa City City Council voted last year to replace the pool because of structural and safety concerns. Much of the current city facility is non-ADA compliant while the pool is also losing water at an alarming rate. The city hopes to address those concerns with accessible parking and travel routes, with a new pool open for business by the summer of 2026.
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What does this design look like?
The chosen concept, known as Design "A," boasts six 50-meter lap lanes, a zero-depth entry pool for children's activities and a diving pool with both low and high diving boards.
Though the council selected "Design A," Parks and Recreation director Juli Seydell Johnson said the concept isn't yet final. They may consider separating the different pools and tweaking the lap lanes. The size of the pool deck may also grow.
The new City Park Pool design will also include a new bathhouse and separate filter building.
The bathhouses in each design were more or less identical. The new facility will be larger accompanied by single-user restrooms, shower rooms, a nursing room, lifeguard locker rooms, a community room, and more.
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What does this design cost?
Initial requests for proposals asked companies to provide three designs at around $10 million and a fourth at $15 million. The City of Iowa City has built up its Facilities Reserve Fund in the last few years which will help fund the redesign.
Designs B and C came in below budget. B would have cost $17.3 million, while C would have cost $17.9 million. D was projected at $19.6 million, more than $1 million above the budget.
That said, City Manager Geoff Fruin said the design A's cost estimate of $18.4 million means funding will be tight, which would have been the case regardless of the design.
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When will Park Pool close and when does it reopen?
The original City Park Pool opens for its final season on Saturday, May 25. It will close for demolition on Labor Day.
The redesign will close the pool for the entire 2025 season. The renovated City Park Pool is set to open in the summer of 2026.
Why is the pool being replaced?
City Park Pool is an iconic landmark in Iowa City, but its problems have been growing for years.
The current pool has been losing more water than expected each day, and its outdated infrastructure and storage area has been hazardous for employees and residents. The pool lost more than 10 million gallons of water from 2021 through the fall of 2023.
Throughout a months-long process in 2023, community members packed council chambers, voicing concerns that their favorite swimming spot would be turned into a waterpark.
The council approved the pool replacement in September, opting against a large-scale renovation because of the high cost and difficulty.
“The history of City Park Pool is important,” Williams Architects senior project manager Andrew Caputo told the council in September. “I know personally as an architect, history is something that is cherished in the community. History has a role to play in the design process.”
Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Council OKs $18 million City Park Pool design
